This album includes photographs, circa 1930, of Stockton State Hospital, the State Narcotic Hospital, the Sonoma State Home, and the Pacific Colony. Stockton State Hospital, constructed in 1851, was California's first state pyschiatric hospital but was closed in 1996. The Sonoma State Home, now the soon-to-be-closed Sonoma Developmental Center, is the oldest facility in California serving those with developmental disabilities. The Pacific Colony opened near Pomona in 1927 to both lock away and care for those considered 'feebleminded.' It later became known as the Lanterman Developmental Center, which was closed in 2015. The State Narcotic Hospital was established during the 1920s to rehabilitate those addicted to narcotics. The photographs in this album show hospital buildings and the surrounding grounds and farms, circa 1930. Most of the hospital buildings in these photographs have been razed and the the hospitals have been closed. The album shows the major buildings but may also include the only known images of many minor structures which may no longer exist today. The album also contains images of state-owned land and equipment and includes statistics about state properties such as information on construction, dates, dimensions, and additions. According to State Archivist J.N. Bowman in 1955, no other state had been found with such a complete series of pictures of its buildings within such a restricted time-period. Records of state hospitals in California are of high interest to researchers, and the time period that these particular records cover is significant because it is during the Great Depression, which caused an increase in the number of patients committed to state hospitals. In addition, because the records are Department of Finance records, one can assume that the state agencies featured in the photographs would want to look their best as they justified their existence and fought for their share of funds from the state budget.

For additional information see California Revealed.

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